Category Archives: Resumes

Get a phone call: The 6 word “career objective” and your very simple resume

Posted on November 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

You will find a job a lot quicker if you simplify your career objective and your resume. Simplicity will get you a phone call.

How a simple plan leads to success in business

Fedex has a very simple business plan.  They get packages anywhere the next day.  Google is incredibly simple.  They help people find stuff on the internet.  Microsoft started out with a simple concept.  Make personal computers work for people.

Just like business plans, first you have to simplify your career plans.  What do you want to do, achieve or become?

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.  (Albert Einstein)

Make your career objective a 6 word sentence.

I rarely read more than 6 words of the “objective” portion of a resume.  I don’t have time to read that you want to work in a team, grow, contribute, and add to the bottom line.  Who doesn’t want those things?

Can you write your career objective in 6 words?  Would you dare put that on your resume?

Most resume screeners and managers decide whether to read career objectives based on the first 6 words.  Why not put your real objective there? 6 words.

Do you want your resume read?

I read The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, the abridged Reader’s Digest version.  It was fantastic.  I liked it so much I started reading the original by Victor Hugo.  It was torture.  Every building in Paris was carefully described.  A walk down a street was worth a chapter.  I couldn’t finish it.

Like Reader’s Digest did, you have to simplify your resume according to your simple plan. Your resume plan should simply be – GET A PHONE CALL.

GET A PHONE CALL

Make getting a phone call the point of your resume.  Now remove the stuff from your resume that won’t get you a phone call.  You need to entice people to call you by giving them exciting information, and NOT fully explaining it.  Then they have to call you.

If you set out to simplify your resume without a simple plan, you will fail.  You have to cut out the things that don’t apply to the plan you are pursuing.  You may end up with three simple objectives and three simple resumes.  That’s fine.  But each resume should be simplified so that it applies to one single objective and the single plan to GET A PHONE CALL.

For someone living before photographs, a description of Paris was thrilling.  For someone who has been there and can see pictures of it on the internet, descriptions of Paris are chloroform in print.  Victor Hugo decided on a simple plan: have a good plot, and double sales by having great descriptions.  He knew his audience.  He sold a lot of books to his target audience.

The same thing goes for the person who wants to be a manager.  He’d better have manager’s resume.  If the same person applies for a job as a technician he needs to leave out all the manager stuff.  Complexity gets confusing and discouraging to the reader¼and therefore gets your resume deleted.  If you want to be a hands-on manager, then show how you have done that in the past.  That is actually a simple plan like Victor Hugo with plot and descriptions.

Simplify your plan, simplify your career objective, then simplify your resume. You will get a phone call.

Something to do today

Are you applying for several different kinds of jobs?

Split your resume into several distinct resumes.  One simple resume for each job.

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Later:              Get 10% more at your next job, 3 parts

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The main way your resume stops you from being hired

Posted on November 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

Some people wisely ask, how can I hide my flaws?  Others seem to ask, how can I hide my greatest strengths?

Every resume I read is a mystery novel.  For instance, an accountant dismissed in March is a lot different than one dismissed in May.  March is the busy part of tax season, so, why would a competent accountant be sacked?  May is a time that accountants cut back on staff.  Is the firing a red flag or a red herring?

Is an 8 or 10 line “objective” on a resume a red herring?  Do any of those 200 words really mean anything?  A 300 word paragraph describing the last job is incredible camouflage for good and bad.

A bullet cuts through all the fluff, just like in a murder mystery.  Find the bullet, find the gun, find the murderer.  I always read the first 3 bullets under a job in a resume.  If those first 3 bullets are really 3 red herring, then I may skip the rest.  By skipping the rest, I may miss the one important bullet.

O jest unseen, inscrutable, invisible, As a nose on a man’s face, or a weathercock on a steeple.  (William Shakespeare)

My problem is that I am human.  I am easily distracted.  I have hours of work to plow through before I leave.  If I see too many red herring in your resume, I’ll push the delete key.

How many pounds of red herring are in your resume?

Something to do today

Hand your resume and the job ad you are applying for to a friend.  Ask them if they match.  It it takes more than 15 seconds to say, “Yes!”, then you lose.

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Later:              Interview red herring

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How to be an internal referral instead of just another resume in HR

Posted on October 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

Internal referrals are the fast track to a job.

Here is a link to how to become a solid internal referral by using LinkedIn and a phone.

 

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Posted in Networking, References, Resumes

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How will you prove how good you are?

Posted on October 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

The first paragraph of most resumes states: I am hard working, a team player, a great contributor, an original thinker and will make you money.

In an interview every candidate makes the same assertion.

Why do so few people prove it?

I worked with a salesperson in a national company.  She was in the top 5 salespeople of her company. She never told me.  She didn’t put it on her resume.  Her friend finally told me.  She had absolute proof how good she was compared to others.  She didn’t use it.  To her credit she did talk about the dollar volume of sales she made.  She just never said how much better than average she was.

I work with engineers who know exactly how much money they saved their company, and they don’t write it down.  They don’t mention it in interviews.

CEO’s and CFO’s fail to mention how much money they made stockholders.

Why?  They have been taught not to brag.

News Flash:  If you don’t prove how good you are, you look like every other candidate.

Who would you hire? There are ten candidates.  One proves how much money he can make you.  The other nine say they are team players who want an exciting job.

Did you pass the test?

Something to do today

Keep a special folder at home or work where you prove how much money you saved, how many customers you helped, the money you made and how much faster things work now.  Write a summary in your job journal every week.

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Tomorrow:     The last thing you say in an interview

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Posted in Accomplishments, Interviews, Resumes

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Are you eating the seed corn in your job?

Posted on October 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

The first winter in Plymouth Colony killed a third of the Pilgrims.  During that winter one of my ancestors was caught eating the seed corn.  He knew the whole colony would fail if the seed corn disappeared, but he talked himself into eating it anyway.  I’m glad he was caught.  I’m glad he learned.

Every job is the seed of your next job, even if you are changing fields entirely.  Your future boss will be looking back at your accomplishments, drive, leadership and enthusiasm for your current job.

When you decide to sit back and relax at your job, you eat your seed corn.  No one wants to hire an “average” person.  They want to hire a superstar, or at least a hard worker.

Figure out how to make a difference.  How can YOU make the company more profitable?  Is there some way you can prove you are above average?

When I was doing janitorial work at 4 a.m. every morning, I excelled.  I only missed 2 days in a school year and I called in advance for those.  I did my entire job no matter how tired I was.  That work got me promoted to the afternoon shift.  It was a lot nicer. The early morning job was the seed of my next job, and that was the seed of the next.

Don’t relax.  Be at least above average.  It will be the seed corn for your next job.  And invest some of the money you earn to get training.  Use it as seed corn.

Something to do today

Be honest. Are you sliding by?

List what makes you above average.  Put it on your resume.

List what makes you below average.  Eliminate it.

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Tomorrow:     Bill Gates’ momma

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Posted in Resumes, Time management, Training

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50 job hunting tips from recruiters

Posted on September 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

Need a job? Recruiters see every possible mistake, and some unusually successful ploys.

Here are 50 job hunting tips from good recruiters.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Counteroffers, Finding jobs, Focus, Interviews, Job Boards, Networking, Perseverance, Quitting or Fired, Recruiters, References, Resumes, talent, Time management, Training

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9 whys to ruthlessly exploit yourself

Posted on August 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

You are not trying to get the job of “minion” or “muscle”.  Don’t pretend that exploiting your life experience is wrong.  It is not the same as shoving a gun in someone’s face and asking for their wallet.

The real reason most people don’t want to exploit their advantages is that they “want to stand on their own two feet”.  It is a lovely macho phrase that means little. Our society, families and personal lives all rest on the shoulders of those who came before us.  Admit that no matter what you do, others have helped you.  Get on with using the advantages that parents, teachers, friends, clergy and God have given you.

Here are some excuses to fail and reasons to exploit a few of your advantages.

  • I will not exploit my family connections to get a job.

Acorns don’t fall far from the tree.  Employers need reliable hires.  Getting someone from a good family is a much better bet than hiring a complete stranger.  If they can’t hire you, but they suggest someone else hire you, they get brownie points from that other person.  They win as much as you do.

  • My friends are too close to my heart for me to ask them for help.

If your friends object to helping you get a job, they don’t trust you with THEIR reputation. If you are going to let them down, you are not a friend.  If they trust you and you will follow through, helping is what builds friendships.

  • I refuse to manipulate their emotions.

People always hire based on emotion.  Always.  Even if no one talks to you and they only give you a paper test, they hire on emotion.  Paper tests are put together based on what people FEEL  will give them the best employee.  Your pay will be based on emotion – how well they FEEL you will do.  Promotions are based on emotion – how do they FEEL you will do in the new job.  Don’t be dishonest.  Don’t be an actor.  Tell the truth simply.  The emotions behind the truth will help you  Use them.

  • Inviting them to lunch is brown nosing and sucking up.

Actually it is called networking.  In many companies senior partners and executives can be fired for not having lunch with enough different people.  They are evaluated on lunch.  Literally.

  • I won’t tell them I left because I was sick.  I don’t want their sympathy.

You are fine now and it is relevant to understand your resume. If it will substantially help you get the job, tell them.  Talk to a couple of job experts and get their opinion. If it will help, exploit it.

  • I want the job, but I don’t feel right pressing them to choose me.

Aaargh! They want to hire the person with the best attitude.  They want the person who will work the hardest.  They want someone who they can promote.  They want someone who is excited. They want to hire the hungriest person. How can they tell that about you unless you keep asking them, “When will you decide?”, and, “When can I start?”

  • It is greedy asking for more money.

If the offer is very good, take it.  Don’t argue.  Otherwise, ask for more money.  If you really are worth it, get the money.  If they pay you more, you will be less likely to leave for another job because of more pay.  They win too.

  • Taking this job to get experience, when I plan to leave later, is wrong.

Hiring and training you does cost money.  Companies that invest that money have already figured out how to profit from it.  They will either give you a raise and promotion, or expect you to leave.  They will make money.  You won’t cost them a thing.

  • I’m a veteran, but it is not fair to use that to get a job.

The leadership, teamwork, calmness under fire, discipline and fortitude veterans develop is uncommon.  Bring it up.

Your life experience makes a difference.  Whatever that experience is.  You need to use it and exploit it.

Something To Do Today

Think about your job search. Just think.  And then take notes about your conclusions.

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For 2 weeks:       Zen and the art of getting a job

Monday:              Measure and maul

Later:                    Making a silk purse

Why you aren’t paid what you are worth

A man dying of thirst

Perception

Character

Diamond in the rough

Cleat marks up your back

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Posted in Attitude, Focus, Networking, Perseverance, Promotions, References, Resumes, talent

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How to show excellent customer service on your resume

Posted on July 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

“You will be successful if you don’t screw up.” That was hard to swallow, but proved to be critically important.  I started watching how often we failed our customers.  Then I started tracking the failures and had coworkers help fix the problems.  My supervisors loved it and rewarded me for merely cutting down the screw ups.

Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in.  It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for.  A product is not quality because it is hard to make and costs a lot of money, as manufacturers typically believe.  This is incompetence.  Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value.  Nothing else constitutes quality. (Peter Drucker)

Meeting expectations is often excellent customer service compared to your competitors. If you go out of your way to just meet expectations, you should write it down and report it. Note how much total revenue the customer is worth.  If you teach others to meet expectations the same way, take credit for the customers they help.  Creating a system to get rid of errors is a powerful accomplishment for your resume.

Giving customers better service than they expected should be tracked too.  Did you figure out how to give better service without spending money?  Did the service improvements save money because there was less rework or returned merchandise? Have you actually been able to charge for better service?  Are you getting more customers because of the better service? Did you cut down the amount of time a customer waits for something?

Remember to take credit for everyone in your company who starts doing something you started. It may seem small to you but multiplied by every customer your company has, it could be gigantic.

Managers look for ways to improve customer service.  If you track problems and then report on how you made things better, you will stand out.  Even if you just do what others suggest, take credit for it.  Track it.  Put it in your resume and job journal.  It may just get you an interview and a job.

 Something To Do Today

In your job journal track screw ups and how you help improve service. Report it.

Have you been giving reports to your boss?  Go back over last week and write a report of how well you did and turn it in.  Now do that every week.  Your boss will appreciate getting information he can use to show how well his team is doing.

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Tomorrow:     The Heisenberg uncertainty principle

Later:              Post-it notes

How they determine your pay rate

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Resumes, talent

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How to show you increased company revenue on your resume

Posted on July 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

There are always opportunities through which businessmen can profit handsomely if they will only recognize and seize them.  (J. Paul Getty)

The CEO of an internet marketing company told me that he can give detailed reports of how successful his campaigns are.  He offers the reports to all the marketing managers who hire him.  Often they say, “We don’t want your reports. Measurable results don’t matter.  We are going to spend the money and get long term results you can’t measure.”  I think, in reality, those marketing managers are saying, “I’m afraid to report how much I increase revenue because I’ll be fired if it is too low.”

Salespeople and people who work for customers at an hourly rate can all figure out exactly how much money they bring in to their company.  Most do not track the figure over time.  They worry about getting paid and then throw away the information.   Every dollar they generate should be tracked, recorded, reported and bragged about in the long term.

Even if you are not in sales or directly billable, go about your day thinking about how your actions generate money.  An accountant who suggests expanding a line of business has generated revenue and should take credit for it. A clerk who gets slow customers to pay up has generated revenue.  Have you given leads to salespeople?  Did you assist in sales presentations?  How many people did you sign up for the new marketing program?  Many people bring in revenue and never think about it.  I would hire the guy who says, “I HELPED bring in $180,000 last year”, over the one who says, “I worked really hard”.

Make sure and write down what you did to bring in new revenue.  Every month, quarter and year you should report it and put it in your job journal. Estimates are fine. And put it on your resume.  It will set your resume apart. It may just be the thing that gets you an interview.

Something To Do Today

Spend a full day noting down the ways you help bring in money.  The projects you work on and the individual things you do all count.  Take credit for your team’s accomplishments too.

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Tomorrow:     Show better customer service

Later:              The Heisenberg uncertainty principle

Post-it notes

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7 ways to show cost cutting and budget savings on your resume

Posted on July 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting. (Benjamin Franklin)

 Most people have no clue how much money they save at the grocery store, much less how much they save at work.  They don’t know their objectives, normal expenses, or budget at work.  The people who worry about the budget at work get all the credit for saving money and time.  It isn’t hard to become a budget and savings guru.  Just ask your managers how much time an average person is supposed to take to finish each project.  Write that number in your job journal.  If your managers won’t tell you, make an estimate, write it down, and see if you can beat it.  Report back the estimate and results.

At your job you can help save money.  You do it by finding out what performance level is expected, then exceeding that level.  If you get your job done in 4 hours instead of 5, you saved one hour for your company.  If you do that every day for 80 work days, you have saved 80 hours of time. That is two work weeks.  You have saved your company two weeks of your wages in 80 days. Put that into dollars and report it on your resume and in your weekly report to your boss.

Here are some more ways to save money and get credit for it:

If the average salesperson is paid $800 each month for expenses and you spend only $600, you will save your company $2400 each year on expenses.  Make sure your boss knows it.  Take credit.

If a project you are on is supposed to take 8 months and it is done in 6 months, you have helped save 2 months of time.  Brag about it. Convert the 2 months into wages for everyone involved and take full credit with your boss and on your resume.

As a network technician you know that last year the network was down 110 hours during work hours.  This year it was only down 10 hours.  You cut network down time by 100 hours.  You also kept 120 clerks from wasting 100 hours.  In other words, you cut wasted clerical time by 12,000 hours as a network technician.  Report the hours and also estimate the savings of a bare minimum of $120,000 to your boss.  He will want to brag about it to his boss too.  When you are looking for a new job, you should be able to go to your job journal and get that number to brag about.

You suggested and/or made a programming change that allowed the company to reassign 3 people to new jobs.  You saved the company the wages of all those people.  Figure it out and take credit for every dollar.  Is it $30,000 x 3 = $90,000 or is it $60,000 x 3 = $180,000 ?  If you tell your boss how much you saved, he may change the number a little, but he will certainly report the savings to his boss.  You should also put it on your resume.

When you show cost cutting and savings on your resume, you prove you are keeping an eye on expenses.  If you can prove even a minor cost saving, it shows that you are interested in something the hiring manager works on every day.  Take the time to keep a job journal tracking the changes you make and the time and money you save. Then put it down on your resume.  It could get you an interview.  It can even get you a job.

Something To Do Today

Look for ways to prove you save money and time.  Ask your managers what the budget is and then beat the budget.  Track it.

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Monday:     Show increased revenue

Later:              Show better customer service

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle

Post-it notes

 

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Posted in Accomplishments, Resumes, talent

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